


Cabin 17

by hotaaaru



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, happy jicheol day yalls, no angst at all!, strangers to friends to lovers idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 04:31:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18275822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotaaaru/pseuds/hotaaaru
Summary: Jihoon didn't know when Monday Cafe Meetings became their thing, neither does he know about the magic that happens on the train.





	Cabin 17

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be for Jicheol Day, but I obviously didn't hit the minimum word count hahahahhaha!! anyway, hope you guys enjoy it ^^
> 
> un-beta-ed! will beta it later uwu
> 
> #Jicheol_comes_home  
> #Jicheol_Day

Jihoon put his hands under the straps of his haversack and looked back. He was at the front in line of the queue — for the next train. Today was the first day of his internship, and he cannot bear to be late no matter the circumstances.

 

Jihoon sighed. He absolutely hated the morning rush but he can’t seem to avoid it no matter what. If he waited for the rush hour to be over, he’d definitely be late. Well, the other possible way to avoid this is for Jihoon to wake up thirty minutes earlier, but that’s an even tougher feat for him.

 

When the bells signaling that the train is arriving rung out, Jihoon sighed again. He casted his eyes away from eager businessmen and women ready to squeeze their way into the already crowded train.

 

_ Screw having a small stature _ , Jihoon thought. It isn’t fair for him to be squashed in smelly armpits and get his toes stabbed by high stilettos.

 

Watching people flow out of the train just like waves, Jihoon readied himself so that he can make his way through the crowd to reach his cozy corner of the cabin where he wouldn’t get squashed as much — which, of course, didn’t happen.

 

Just as people stopped flowing out, the crowd behind him started pushing, shoving him straight into any empty space till all four sides of him were packed with people.

 

Poor Jihoon, though. He landed face flat into another commuter’s chest, unable to control his own movements due to the pressure coming from all directions. He was more than thankful to not fall and get trampled on (not like there was space for him to fall anyway).

 

Keeping his head lowered, Jihoon sighed (again) for the nth time that day. Upon feeling a rumble from his head, he suddenly remembered that he was leaning his head on the said commuter’s chest. He felt his face flush red and immediately looked up, only to realize that was a bad idea due to the close proximity of their bodies and thus, their faces.

 

Now the heat can be felt in his  _ ears _ .

 

Just as Jihoon tried to move back, the train doors opened once more and a new influx of passengers made (shoved) their way in, moving Jihoon back to his original position as before, the only difference was that Jihoon had both hands on the man’s arms to brace his weight.

 

The said man in front of him chuckled at this absurd situation. Jihoon waved his hands around in panic and apologized to the man.

 

“It’s okay,” the man chuckled, “are you okay?”

 

As Jihoon was sure that any sound coming out from his throat wouldn’t be legible, he just nodded.

 

“Ah, what about you change places with me instead? It’s a little less of a squeeze here- I mean, if you want to.” He looked at Jihoon and smiled, dimples proudly showing.

 

Well, Jihoon would be an idiot to say no to an escape from this stuffy environment — and wherever that man was standing at now is actually  _ his _ cozy corner.

 

“Okay,” Jihoon nodded, “Let’s switch.”

 

The main maintained his smile while he maneuvered Jihoon around while holding Jihoon’s shoulders gently.

 

He glanced down at Jihoon with such gentle eyes, making Jihoon feel like a child. Or a baby panda. Which, he definitely isn’t any of them, no matter how adorable he looked.

 

The two of them stood there staring at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Jihoon shifted his eyes away and took out his phone, pretending to be busy with replying his friends’ messages. Social interaction was definitely not his forte. With that, the man also turned around, holding onto his suitcase with two hands.

 

Jihoon took a quick glance at the back view of the man in front of him, eyeing him from top to bottom. The said man was in a baby blue button up and black pants, just like the usual business attire. He shouldn’t be too old, Jihoon thought. Other than the fact that he has a rather handsome baby face, he carries around that bubbly excitement that majority of the people would’ve lost by now.

 

Heck, Jihoon is only twenty-two but he doesn’t even have the energy to be riled up anymore.

 

Not to mention the dangling earrings that the man was wearing (which further complimented his looks, not that Jihoon will admit it) and the rolled up sleeves which proudly showed off his toned forearms. Then again, who is Jihoon to judge when he looks like a highschooler no matter how he dyes his hair or works out? 

 

In no time, Jihoon arrived at his stop. The only problem was that the train was completely packed by now and he was stuck in the corner. Well, stuck wouldn’t be the right word to describe it since he had considerably more space to move around than the other commuters. Come to think of it, why did he have so much more space?

 

Anyway, getting of the train was Jihoon’s first priority. As he was about to tap the man in front of him once again, the man started making his way through the crowd, presumably also to get off the train.  _ Nice _ , Jihoon thought as he scurried behind him, taking advantage of the open path he had already created in front.

 

Jihoon overtook the man at some point in time as the man stopped to take a look at his phone, but Jihoon didn’t have any second thoughts about it. He had the way to Carat Entertainment memorized by heart (after staring at Google Maps for a week). 

 

He allowed himself to smile a little at the huge building in front of him, still in disbelief that he got accepted for the internship. He walked into the building with determined steps, heading straight for the reception counter.

 

Taking in a deep breath, Jihoon smiled, “Hello, I am Lee Jihoon, an intern for the Production Department this spring.”

 

\--

 

Jihoon fidgets with the sleeves of his hoodie while sitting at one of the chairs. There seemed to be a few other interns sitting close to him, looking equally as uncomfortable and awkward. He glanced around, before stopping at an awfully familiar face. It was the guy on the train. Said man looked up just right at that time, and upon noticing that Jihoon was staring at him, dimpled at Jihoon. Jihoon gave a slight smile back, before looking back down.

 

Not long later, the person-in-charge walked through the doors, causing all of them to stand up and bow out of basic courtesy. She dismissed them with a friendly smile, before explaining some basic company policies and asking them each to introduce themselves.

 

When it came to the guy-on-the-train’s turn, he gave everyone a bright smile before staring straight at Jihoon, “I’m Choi Seungcheol, 24 this year, and I’m an intern in the HR department.”

 

Jihoon felt his face grow hot, but he didn’t know why.

 

\--

 

It was a rather pleasant first day of internship, Jihoon had to say. With kind and patient coworkers alongside with him, willing to guide him through every step of the process, Jihoon couldn’t ask for more. It’s just that now that it’s time for him to head home, he finds himself face-to-face with the guy-on-the-train, or for the lack of better words,  _ Seungcheol _ again. This time, they are waiting at the platform of the train station together. Seungcheol didn’t seem like he was going to start a conversation anytime soon despite their encounters earlier in the day, and Jihoon didn’t blame him for that with how he himself had responded.

 

_ Fuck it _ , Jihoon decided,  _ the awkwardness can’t be any more suffocating than this _ .

 

“Uh, Seungcheol?” Jihoon started, fidgeting with his sleeves, only to get startled when Seungcheol whipped his head back so fast with gleaming eyes.

 

“That’s you, right? I didn’t confuse it with someone else’s name right?” Jihoon tilted his head a little, confused by his own thoughts.

 

“Yeah, that’s me, Jihoon.” Seungcheol’s melodious laughter rang out.

 

Jihoon had to grin a little at the contagious sound, “right, I didn’t manage to thank you this morning, so thank you!”

 

Seungcheol’s eyes widened as he replied, “You look cute when you smile.”

 

“I-what?”

 

“Ah, I said that it’s whatever!” Seungcheol scratched the back of his head.

 

Jihoon looked down, a pretty pink blush gracing his cheeks and ears.

 

“Say, Jihoon,” Seungcheol started cautiously, observing Jihoon’s expression when he looked up, before continuing, “since we’re coworkers and all, are you free to get a drink with me tomorrow?”

 

\--

 

Over the next few weeks, Jihoon and Seungcheol’s friendship blossomed, just like the trees as winter finally decided to give in to spring.

 

It was another Monday, and they were sitting opposite each other at Jihoon’s favourite cafe.

 

“So like, I’m not supposed to say this, but the process to enter your production department is crazy. Every applicant that I thought was qualified enough got rejected after their resume got sent to the higher-ups,” Seungcheol sighed, “I guess I still have a lot to learn.”

 

Jihoon didn’t know when their Monday Cafe Talks became a constant. It probably started from the time Seungcheol had asked him to grab a drink. Seungcheol had meant alcohol, but after Jihoon had kindly explained that he doesn’t drink, they went to this said cafe instead, Seungcheol didn’t seem to mind, instead his smiles just got brighter after every hour.

 

“Huh,” Jihoon responded, “I was shocked when my internship got accepted too when I had no prior working experience and just sent them some of my works.”

 

Seungcheol sat up straight, interest piqued, “What works?”

“Ah, just some songs that I wrote in my first year of college. Nothing spectacular.”

 

“Ohhhhh, can I have a listen? I mean, if you don’t mind at all…” Seungcheol trailed off, giving Jihoon a choice, yet not really as he was staring at him with puppy dog eyes.

 

“Stop staring at me like that,” Jihoon laughed, “You know I would let you listen.”

 

Using one hand, Jihoon scrolled through his music list and the other to dig out his earphones from his bag. He hand the earphones over to Seungcheol as he clicked on a song. 

 

“Ah, just a warning. This wasn’t any of the songs I submitted but it’s the first song I wrote and the only song I have on my phone, so you’ll have to make do!” Jihoon placed his phone on the table, letting the music run while he observes Seungcheol’s features. 

 

Seungcheol didn’t let any expression run through his face as he stared blankly at the counter. Jihoon fidgeted with his sweater paws nervously, awaiting Seungcheol’s reaction. 

 

After the three minutes that felt like an hour, the song ended and Seungcheol shifted his gaze to Jihoon. He took down the earpieces with a sigh and looked seriously at Jihoon. 

 

“Jihoon, I hate to break it to you like this, but,” he sighed once more, “I think I need your autograph.” 

 

They both maintained eye contact with straight faces for around five seconds, before both of them broke out into laughter at the same time.

 

“Seriously! How can this be your first song! You’re a genius I tell you, a genius!” Seungcheol leaned over to pat Jihoon on the back multiple times enthusiastically, leaving Jihoon to wince on his own. He couldn’t be more bothered, overwhelmed by the fact that someone that matters so much to him likes what he wrote.

 

Here’s the thing he likes about Seungcheol — he’s always supportive, always enthusiastic to not only Jihoon, but everyone that he cares around him, almost like a ball of sunshine (or maybe just a kid in a grown man’s body). Jihoon thinks he likes Seungcheol more than that, he thinks that being friends aren’t enough, but he doesn’t know how Seungcheol feels.

 

He doesn’t want to get his heart broken, so he’ll wait. Jihoon will wait for the right time.

 

\-- 

 

This time, they were on the train together, as usual. It was yet another morning rush, and Jihoon thinks it’s amazing how they meet on the train every other day. There are this many trains, this many timings, but they always meet, somehow. Sure, there are days that they are on different trains, but when they are on the same train, they’re always in the same cabin. Jihoon doesn’t know why. It’s not like he has been taking note of which cabin he enters everyday (he totally does — but wait, if he does, then does Seungcheol do the same thing too?).

 

“Y’know,” Seungcheol stared at the scenery outside with a fond smile, “if I could write songs, I would write about myself.”

 

“Hm? And what about yourself will you write about?”

 

“I dunno. Maybe about my dreams, maybe about my aspirations. I’ll probably write about the boy I fell in love with, with pink hair, a little small, but the most passionate and kind person I’ve met, even though he himself doesn’t think so.”

 

“Yeah?” 

 

“Yeah.” Seungcheol directed his gaze towards Jihoon, giving him a smile that’s gentler than ever before.

 

Jihoon thinks he has an epiphany.

 

It’s only polite for Jihoon to give him a response. 

 

“Well, I do write songs, and the next song I’ll write will be about weird confessions on trains and the fact that I’ll definitely accept it.”

 

Jihoon stared back into Seungcheol’s dark hazel orbs, giving a shy smile. Seungcheol smiled even wider than he needs to, slowly taking a hold of Jihoon’s hand.

 

Cabin 17. That’s the cabin where magic takes place. That’s where Jihoon and Seungcheol first met; and that’s where they fell in love.

**Author's Note:**

> tell me what you thought in the comments below! ^^
> 
> whether there’ll be a second chapter.......it depends
> 
> alternatively, scream at me on twitter @cuddlecheols !


End file.
